A New Angle: "Destruction is an interesting motif for fashion"

The New York Times
Fashion Review
Surface Sheen, Subtle Thought
By CATHY HOYRN
Published: February 19, 2009

[...]It’s baffling to hear people say that the Rodarte clothes are full of emotion when in fact they are emotionless. That’s not necessarily a bad thing[...]

[...]If the sisters are seriously engaged by this sensibility — and it isn’t clear that they are — they need to get under the surface. All those scarred fabrics are essentially ornament; the underlying shapes don’t change much, and they’re not interesting. Indeed you wonder if they are bored or intimidated by the actual mechanics of design — cutting, setting a sleeve — and that what their clothes express isn’t technical virtuosity but inarticulateness.

Narciso Rodriguez also used reflective fabrics in his show on Tuesday night, and at times he also projected an alien, futuristic look, with a head-to-toe ensemble in gray-and-white camouflage (complete with felt helmets), silk prints based on digitalized star patterns, and lacquered-looking tweeds. Yet he is far more subtle and sophisticated.

The front of a black cashmere coat has a square of grainy pewter silk in the center. It suggests a piece of metal. On a more subliminal level, the shape might also allude to a computer screen. Aren’t we constantly looking at them?

Mr. Rodriguez isn’t so literal, of course[...]

There was a lot of sleek tailoring, done in khaki wool twill with white stretch pants and white booties, and sexy dresses (now in citrine and vivid pink). But the standout looks always included some reference to science or digital technology — a dress that combined a camouflage bodice with a midnight blue skirt of the celestial sky, a black tweed suit jacket with a metallic silk panel. What am I looking at? It’s a question we ask everyday[...]

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